The ACIP Turning Point: A Rallying Cry For A New Era of Public Health. A Talk w Drs. Craig Spencer, Rachael Bedard & Michael Mina

Dec 11, 2025

In a thought-provoking discussion, Dr. Michael Mina, an influential epidemiologist, and Dr. Rachael Bedard, a dedicated internist and health advocate, dive into the controversial ACIP decision to end the universal Hepatitis B birth dose. They challenge the implications this decision has on childhood vaccination and public trust in health systems. Exploring vaccine hesitancy, the importance of integrating sociology into public health, and lessons from COVID-19, they urge a shift from fear-based messaging to community engagement for better health outcomes.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Origins And Impact Of The 1991 Birth-Dose Policy

The 1991 ACIP birth-dose policy aimed to close prenatal screening gaps and curb lifelong pediatric hepatitis B.
That universal approach dramatically reduced hepatitis B cases but originally allowed vaccination flexibility to two months for screened-negative mothers.

INSIGHT

Process Broke From Established ACIP Norms

This ACIP process deviated from prior norms: there was no dedicated hepatitis B workgroup or long preparatory review.
The meeting looked ideologically driven rather than following the usual methodical, evidence-based ACIP procedure.

ANECDOTE

How Hep B Questions Spark Wider Doubts

Craig Spencer recalled pediatric clinicians being radicalized into vaccine skepticism after encountering hepatitis B questions.
He described hepatitis B as an early "entry" topic that pulled clinicians into broader anti-vaccine circles.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Welcome to a new era for public health. In the wake of RFK Jr.’s ACIP committee making its first major change to America’s childhood vaccine schedule—ending the universal Hepatitis B birth dose—we break down what this means, and what it doesn’t. Much of the mainstream public-health world is sounding alarms, calling the move dangerous, unscientific, and the opening salvo in a broader campaign against childhood vaccines. So today we ask some tough questions: Is this a reckless break from science—or a reasonable correction? Is this really about one dose of one vaccine, or the future of the entire childhood schedule? And now that ACIP is in the driver’s seat, is traditional public health's doom messaging the right and only course of action? Or should they rally around a different strategy? To help us sort it out, we’re joined by our own “fantasy ACIP” panel: Dr. Michael Mina, Dr. Rachael Bedard, and Dr. Craig Spencer.

Hosts:

Brinda Adhikari

Tom Johnson

Maggie Bartlett

Dr. Mark Abdelmalek

Guests:
Dr. Rachael Bedard is an internist, geriatrician, and palliative-care physician whose work focuses on health, human rights, and justice. She teaches, advocates, and writes, you’ll find her work in the New York Times, The New Yorker, and a popular substack called The Argument.

Dr. Craig Spencer is an emergency medicine physician and an Associate Professor at Brown University School of Public Health. He focuses on frontline preparedness in the U.S. and around the world and has written for various news publications, including the Atlantic and the New York Times.

Dr. Michael Mina is an epidemiologist and immunologist and physician. Over the course of his career, he’s been an associate professor at Harvard Medical School as well as the TH Chan School of Public Health. In the height of the pandemic, he led America’s Test to Treat program, which connected home testing to treatment options.

Thanks for listening! If you like us, please leave a review, rate us, and please subscribe!

Got questions? Comments? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@whyshoulditrustyou.net